Healing Fresh Scars
by Tashi and the Black Bumble Bee
Summary: When did having people care about you get so... annoying? Harry contemplates this as he struggles to hide his secret from his friends, hide the fact that he's a mute from the world, worry about his little-sister-figure, why does Umbridge look familiar?
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter Maximum Ride crossover

**Please excuse me if the start of the chapter's messed up, I started writing this at 1:56 am. Also, tell me if the events are wrong, I left my copy of the book at my mum's house.**

There were many things Harry Potter hated. He hated living at #4, Privet drive with the Dursley's. He hated the summer holidays. He hated not being able to have answers from his friends. He hated having lost his voice (from use of screaming). He hated needles and the smell of anything sterilized (which was mainly why he hated living in the same house as his Aunt Petunia). But most of all, he hated being reminded of his past time at the School. Being under the command and control of the evil Whitecoats had scared him the more than anything in his fifteen years of life (he had considered Obliviating himself-but decided it would be very weird if he woke up one day with the ability to duplicate flesh copies of himself and grow claws), and the Flock had been the only thing keeping him same. He had tried teaching the other experiments English, but that idea had fallen short when the 'failed' mutants had been 'retired'.

Harry sighed, lying on his bed at his Aunt and Uncle's house, having just been expelled after being attacked by dementors. He traced a scar on his hand, one of the surgically caused ones, the one that grew his claws. He winced and tried to fight an onslaught of memories.

_Harry was struggling on a white table, trying to rip off the hard plastic that bound him. He tried to duplicate himself using his skill, but the copy couldn't even get one punch in before it was run through with an Eraser's claws and dragged away. Harry winced and then screamed in pain as the first needle was jabbed into his skin, then a second, then another-_

"Boy!" Vernon Dursley's loud voice cut through his thoughts abruptly.

"Your Aunt, Dudley and I are going out. We've won 'Best Suburban Lawn', and we don't want anything _funny_ while we're out, understand?" Harry nodded mutely, and Vernon left the room and trudged down the stairs. After he had escaped from the School, the Dursley's had been especially reluctant to take him in, but they seemed to find his submissiveness and muteness pleasing. He heard the car door slam and drive away. He closed his eyes and went to sleep, dreaming of one of the few happier times at the School, just at the start of his time there.

_Harry was banging desperately on the door of his cage, terrified._

"_It won't work." He heard a voice from the cage next to him. The voice was clipped, a sort of broken English, like many accents being forced into one speech. He turned and saw a girl, maybe seven or eight, with dark brown eyes and dirty brown hair in a short, slightly boyish haircut. Harry supposed she had learned to talk from all the different people in white coats hanging around everywhere. "Who-_

Harry woke with a start but managed to keep his limbs from flailing. The key in the lock was slowly turning, and fell to the floor. Harry clenched his fists, preparing to extend his bone claws.

"Harry?" Harry's eyes widened. It was Professor Lupin. Harry gave a slight wave of his hand and picked up his wand from his bedside table ( he hadn't picked it up, because, in the words of Iggy, 'what're you going to do with a stick? Harry, you have _claws_.') and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Don't put your wand away, boy!" A voice snarled. _Moody._ Now that he looked, there was about seven people standing behind his former professors. Lupin introduced them all and went down stairs.

"Damn, it's stuck again!" Moody growled. "Where do you keep the water, Potter?" Harry fetched a glass from the cupboard sink and filled it up, but didn't miss the glances being exchanged behind him. Finally he could stand it no longer. He set the glass of water down on the table in front of Moody and signed angrily, "_If you have something to say to me, say it to my face!" _He then felt the blood drain from his face as he realized his mistake. He tried to turn away from them but Lupin grabbed his arm, and he automatically flinched from the sudden contact. The only people whom he allowed to touch him were mutants like himself (Erasers not included).

"Talk to me, Harry," Lupin insisted urgently, "What was that? What's going on?"

"I should think it's quite obvious what's going on," Moody spoke up, "he can't talk. And let go of his arm, Remus, you're scaring the boy." Lupin let go and stepped back slowly.

"Harry," he began.

" _Yes, I'm mute, and no, I am not going to talk about it."_ Harry signed, then reached around for a piece of paper and a pen.

"He says that he is mute, but he's not going to talk about it, which, by the way, I don't think is a wise idea, Potter." Moody beat him to it, and Harry looked at him, surprised. "Hang on, I've got a spell.." He pointed his want at Harry and muttered something. "You can sign, and we'll hear you."

"_So, what are you doing here? Are you going to take me to the Burrow?" _Harry signed, and jumped when his voice rang out as if he were talking normally.

Lupin sighed, but sent Harry a look that meant _I'm not dropping this_. "No, we're not going to the Burrow, we're going to Headquarters, but we can't talk about it here. I don't suppose you're packed? Nympha-_Tonks_'ll help you." The violet-haired woman smiled and motioned for him to lead the way to his bedroom. He walked upstairs and hurriedly pulled his trunk from under his bed, then started throwing clothes into it, while Tonks looked at the photos on his bedside.

"Who're these, then?" She asked, holding out a photo. It had been taken just before Harry returned to Privet Drive, and had all the Flock, plus him and Poppy, smiling into the camera, which had been taken by Dr. Martinez, Max's mother. Poppy was holding onto his hand and smiling a gap-toothed grin, having just lost one of her front teeth, and making bunny ears on an oblivious Gazzy. Harry snatched the photo, and the others on his desk then stuffed them into his trunk.

Tonks looked curious, but, at the sight of Harry's glare, didn't press the matter. She offered a spell to help him pack, and he nodded, so a few minutes later they were traipsing down stairs, his trunk levitating behind while Tonks praised his Firebolt.

"That's the signal. Ready to go, Harry?" Lupin offered with a tight smile. Harry nodded, and they took off into the clouds.


	2. Chapter 2

Healing Fresh Scars Chapter Two

**Again, I apologize for any errors; I wrote this at midnight while listening to Darren Criss' cover of 'I'll make a man out of you'. Just a quick question, Team Zefron, or Team Jacob?**

Harry had almost forgotten what it was like to fly on a broomstick. The feeling of the wind rushing through his hair, the thrill of the speed. He agreed with Max, flying was the best thing in the world. It started to get colder, and he was shivering, but not just from the cold. Unwillingly, he was reminded of an experiment the Whitecoats had performed on him, _burning_ him with cold. He convulsed, barely managing to stay on his broom. He heard several voices calling out to him, then his fingers slipped and everything went black as he fell off his broom.

_Harry was shoved roughly back into his cage with several cuts over his body. He whimpered, blood seeping out through his thin garments. He tentatively touched a wound and jerked in pain. "I can heal you," That same voice from before spoke. Harry looked at her, confused. "It's a… skill of mine," she reached out with small, grubby hands and touched Harry's shoulder, who jumped but felt his pain slowly disappearing, the cuts healing. " My name is Harry. What's yours?" He asked. _

_She frowned. "I… don't think I have… one of those. They call me… 'Ache, ate, nine, dash, sevun, six, dash, three, for, for, dash, eff,." She answered. _H89-76-344F, _Harry thought. "Well," He replied, "You can be called…" He frowned for a moment, thinking. _Healing abilities… who does that remind me of? _"Poppy." He replied, and her eyes shone as she smiled. Harry-_

The boy-who-lived woke with a start. He did not recognize the place he was in, and for a moment, didn't recognize the three people looking at him.

"_Ron? Hermione? Sirius? Mrs. Weasley?"_ He signed, once again his voice rang out. Mrs. Weasley threw her arms around him and he flinched, hoping no one had noticed. The red-heads in the room didn't seem to, but he saw Sirius and Hermione narrow their eyes at him. Extracting himself from the motherly woman's arms gently, he asked, "_What is this place, anyway?_"

"Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry," Sirius replied. He went to hug him but Harry automatically moved away, cringing internally at the look of hurt on his godfather's face.

"_What's that?_" He asked. Harry listened thoughtfully throughout the whole explanation, and winced when they got to the part about his Hearing.

"_Is there… food?_" He asked tentatively, still not used to having food whenever he wanted. Sirius nodded. Harry stood up, and looked at Ron and Hermione, who had stayed silent during the whole explanation.

As they walked down the many flights of stairs, Hermione tried to start up a conversation. "Who do you think will be Prefect this year?" Ron shrugged. "You, most likely," Harry nodded in agreement. Hermione blushed, and opened the door to the kitchen, where everyone exclaimed at the sight of Harry, but had apparently been forewarned, because none made a move to touch him.

Harry sat down, and spooned a tiny amount of the steaming tomato soup into his bowl. Unlike the Avian/Human hybrids, Harry only needed a small amount of food to keep himself going, but he did need a lot of water to keep himself hydrated.

"Oh, have some more of that, dear," Mrs Weasley told him. Harry shook his head politely, then put his spoon down as a thought occurred to him.

"_Mr. Weasley," _He asked, _"can owls get through the wards?" _

Mr. Weasley smiled and nodded. "Yes, but the letters will be checked first. Also, Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore wanted to talk to you about something, Harry. Are you expecting a letter?" Harry nodded. He stood up, and was about to pick up his plate to put it in the sink, but Fred and George beat him to it. Exclaiming, they levitated the empty plates to the sink with their wands, with Mrs. Weasley berating them all the while. Harry's throat constricted as he was reminded of Poppy and Gazzy, while not as stealthy as the twins, still just as skilled and exuberant. It must have shown on his face, because Sirius excused them and gently led Harry out into the hallway.

As if on cue, Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore walked through the front door, silently so as not to wake the portrait of Sirius' mother.

"Albus," Sirius greeted the old man. "Sni-Snape." Snape's lip curled, but said nothing.

"_Hello, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape,_" Harry signed.

"So, it is true, Harry," Dumbledore sighed.

"_I expect that you want me to tell you how it happened? Well, sorry professors, I can't."_ Harry said firmly.

"Can't, or won't?" Snape drawled.

"_Won't._"

"Well, Harry," said Dumbledore resignedly, "I suppose, we can't make you tell us, however, I do want to speak to you once you get to Hogwarts. Oh, an owl was on it's way here, we thought we might bring it to you." Dumbledore handed him a letter in a paper envelope. Harry thanked him and watched him leave.

"Well, isn't there a meeting now, Black?" Snape asked coldly. Sirius nodded, gave Harry a tight smile, then followed Snape into the kitchen where the other Order members had already congregated.

Harry walked upstairs to the room he shared with Ron, where the latter plus Hermione were talking, but stopped once they saw Harry open the door. Harry ignored them, and focused on the letter. He recognized the messy, all-over-the-place handwriting, and smiled, starting to read.

_Dere Harry, Hello._

_Max and Fang ar teach me how too rite. I am ritin to yoo. how ar yoo? ar yor wisard freinds nice to yoo? Gazzy xplodd maxs alrm clok. Nuj Got A new Hayrdrir. My owl got sik but i mad him bettr. Doctr Em is very nice. she mad us cokies. Iggy an Ella ar being groos. plees mak them stop. Luv from Poppy._

The handwriting changed then to Max's loopy handwriting.

_Hi Harry._

_How are you? We're at Mom's house. Are your wizard friends treating you like a freak yet? Fang says (well, not really, but you know what I mean) hi, I'm sure the rest would too but Iggy and Ella are making out (are Fang and I really that gross?), Nudge is chasing Gazzy for blowing up her new hairdryer, Mom is making cookies, and Angel is playing tea party with Celeste. Also, do you know where my alarm clock went? I can't find it. Poppy's spelling is improving (only slightly, but still good for an eight year old learning for the first time) and so are her healing skills, she healed Eggs, that owl you gave her. Mom is trying to get us to go to school. _

_Well, I gotta go now, I think Nudge is about to step on a bomb._

_Love, _

_Max & the Flock. _

"Who's that from, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged, thinking it would be to complicated to explain it, and he didn't want to tell them about the School just yet.

"Yeah, who?" Ron chimed in.

Harry thought fast. "_She's a squib that I met while I was at the Dursley's. Her name's Poppy." _He got the feeling that they would have pressed the matter more, but Mrs. Weasley's voice rang up, telling them to go to bed.

**Sorry that was short, it's hard writing the adults, and Dumbledore is really hard. Please review? **


	3. Chapter 3

Healing Fresh Scars

**IMPORTANT A/N: I PUT UP A POLL ON MY PROFILE SO YOU GUYS CAN VOTE ON WHO HARRY SHOULD END UP WITH. PLEASE VOTE.**

Chapter Three

_Dear Poppy & the Flock _

_Yeah, I'm fine. I'm on the train right now. It's actually a lot weirder than I thought it would be, being with my friends. It's quite unpleasant, I mean, they're my best friends, and it feels like they don't know me at all. This is really short, but I have to go get changed into my robes. No, Iggy, they're not dresses. And Max, I think Gazzy exploded it, but don't you have a whole stash in your closet that you got for yourself on your sixteenth? For exactly this occasion? Please, don't ask how I know what the inside of your closet looks like… Please. Fang, I blame you entirely. And Angel, feel free to tease him about it. Also, how is Nudge doing? Judging by the lack of information on your last letter, I'm guessing she hasn't told you what happened when she was in that room at the School with the wizards. Send her my love._

_Have to go now, _

_Harry._

Harry carefully folded the letter and tied it to Hedwig's leg, stroking her feathers tenderly for a moment before telling her to take it to Max. Rummaging through his trunk for his robes, he looked around the compartment. Luna was getting changed in the bathroom, and Neville was already slipping on his clothes.

Harry got changed as soon as he could, but apparently not quick enough, for he heard a badly-stifled gasp as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Harry…" Neville whispered. Harry avoided eye contact as he dressed.

"_I don't want to talk about it, Neville." _

"You have to go see Dumbledore, or at least Madam Pomfrey!"

"_NO! I don't need to, Neville, I-"_

Harry stopped, thinking, his hand hovering in the air. _Maybe I should see Dumbledore, he might be able to put a stop to the Schools! And Madam Pomfrey could fix my voice and stop people bugging me! _

"_Alright Neville, I will!_" He signed.

**My computer won't let me put asterix's in here, so pretend that this is a line break.**

Harry quickly ducked into a deserted corridor and listened with his superior hearing, waiting until the ramblings of Filch and the mewling of Mrs. Norris had passed. Checking to see if the coast was clear, he then sprinted stealthily down the hall and opened the door to the hospital wing.

Harry had not 'spoken' with his friends much at the feast, mostly concentrating on hiding his anger at the people who kept pestering him with questions, and especially with Seamus, who, along with others, had silently made accusations about his mental health. He also had sent discreet glances at the pink puff-ball that was their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She looked familiar, and Harry was sure, that if they had met before, it had not been a pleasant meeting. He had decided to keep a close eye on her for the time being.

Harry winced and took steady breaths to calm himself. He now understood why the Flock had a strict no-hospital policy.

"Mr. Potter, back into trouble before classes have even started, are you?" But she must have been forewarned by the Order, because she looked him up and down, then suddenly jabbed her wand at his throat.

She was done before he had time to flinch away. She led him to the door, but not before shoving a colorless potion in a thick purple flask into his hand, and telling him to take it whenever his throat started to hurt, then she practically threw him out of the hospital wing and closed the door behind him.

Once outside, Harry tentatively cleared his throat. A huge smile lit up his face, and he all but sprinted to the Headmaster's office, humming the school song as loud as he could in happiness. He caught a few people glancing at him in confusion, but he didn't care.

Harry's face fell when he came to stand in front of the gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's* office. He didn't know the password. Well, when he had gone to the Headmaster's office before, (and it had been quite a number of times) the password had always been something sweet.

"Ch…Chocolate frogs?" Harry asked the gargoyle, his voice raspy and hoarse from complete lack of use. The gargoyle didn't move, but seemed to be giving him a cold look.

_Okay, that's not the password, what's another one? _He asked himself. He tried several different passwords, even going so far as to kick the stone wall in frustration, but eventually guessed the correct sweet, 'blood pops'.

_Seriously, who likes blood pops? Except for vampires that is, but I'm sure that Dumbledore's not a vampire… he definitely doesn't sparkle, though. I don't get why Nudge likes that stupid book… or used too, not that she reads much any more… _Harry thought as the moving staircase started to ascend.

Harry knocked tentatively on the big, arched wooden door.

"Come in, Harry," a familiar voice rang out on the first knock. Harry turned the brass nob and opened the door. Dumbledore's office looked much the same as it had over the past five years of Harry's education at Hogwarts, as did the headmaster. Dumbledore had not changed a bit. The electric blue eyes still twinkled, and a wrinkled hand stroked the white beard as he smiled at Harry, though Harry could detect a slightly condescending undertone to it. He smiled back, anyway, and sat down in the chair in front of the desk without invitation.

"Ah, hello Harry, ready to tell me what happened?"

"How did you know, Sir?" Harry rasped. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, but he said nothing.

Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Well, Professor, all around the world, there are muggle scientists…" Dumbledore listened without interruption as Harry poured out everything about his time at the School, from being captured, meeting the Flock and Poppy, to losing his voice and escaping, finding a family.

"Harry… I know that you had a very… traumatic experience last summer… but I do not think that it is a very good idea to go around saying this. People would think things… and Harry, be reasonable, the things you saw in the graveyard are nothing to be ashamed about; you need to talk to people about things like this…"

Harry sat there, confused. Then understanding dawned on him _He thinks I'm a nutter! Well, there goes being the wisest wizard in the world! _Harry thought furiously.

"I'm not crazy, _Sir._" Harry said sharply, the term of respect dripping with sarcasm (a trick he had learned from Max).

Any remains of a twinkle had long disappeared from Dumbledore's eyes. "Harry, you need to understand that there are people older and wiser than you who know what's best for you."

Harry was astounded. He had never thought that someone like _Dumbledore_ would do something like that-_Dumbledore_- would turn on him, accuse him of being insane. He stood up and stormed out of the room, pausing to stand at the door. He suddenly gave a sinister smile, and he could tell by the old man's expression it disturbed him. He lifted his right hand into the air, and extended the claws on his right hand. His claws were made of bone, but did not have the same pain tolerance, they were almost immune to feeling pain. They were a bleach white and curved out from his knuckles, wickedly sharp.

Dumbledore's face paled, but Harry did not wait to see the rest of his reaction, walking out of the Headmaster's office and slamming the door behind him. He walked down the stairs, but stopped at the bottom in shock, staring at the person in front of him.

"I… I never knew…"

It was Draco Malfoy.

***Did you know that Dumbledore is an old word for bumblebee? And that my name is Bee? I bet you didn't. The Dumbledore thing, not my name. Also, no offense to TwiTwits- sorry, Twilight fans. **

**Could you guys tell me how this is going? I'm thinking that this might be going too fast, but I have a few twists planned that I don't think anyone's done before. So, could you tell me what you think? I know that a lot of people have put this on alert, or favorited it, so if you could leave a review that would be great. I'm really sorry for the late update, my mum just got her new house, and it doesn't have any internet except for a little stick thing that my big sister hogs because she has exams. I also went to visit my family across the country for a bit, and I only had internet when I came back to my dad's house. **

**Review if you only watch the twisted abomination that is G-L-E-E because Blaine is Darren Freakin' Criss. I would, but, unfortunately, I can't review my own story… Darren is epic, but give me Joey Richter any day… You can have Darren. I'm cool with that…**

**Redvines. Never tasted them, but I know they are awesome.**

'**Nuff said. **

**Please review. I'll give you a sneak peek of next chapter, if it's a good review! (And only if it has good grammar). **

**Sorry for confusing you if you're not a Starkid. Truly. **

**I was going to write something really witty and smart-sounding here, but I forgot what it was, because I thought of it at midnight, as I do a lot of things. **


	4. Chapter 4

**This is going to be the last chapter for a while, and I feel SO SO SO SO SO SO SO bad that I haven't updated in AGES. I'm CONSIDERING giving this up for adoption. I have the plot worked out in my head, but I haven't been feeling the inspiration lately, working on my other stories that I'm mostly co-writing, and I'm planning a Hetalia story. This chapter is a piece of shit and so am I.**

"I…I never knew…" Draco Malfoy murmured. Harry stood silently, not speaking. _Is he talking about the School? Is he a mutant? I can easily take him out if he's not, and most likely I can if he is, they tested me against other mutants at the School, _Harry thought. He decided to take thê chance.

"Are you… like me?" He asked.

Malfoys's eyes widened. "No, no, I'm not. My father…" Malfoy's lip curled in disgust. "He… _helps_ at the School. Told me one day I was to succeed him, carry on the family honor. All he and the other pure-blood men do is _rape_ little girls. I think one of them… she was calling for you."

Harry inhaled sharply. Possibilities flashed through his head, _Poppy, Angel, Nudge, Max- Nudge._

"What did she look like?" Malfoy's pale blonde eyebrows scrunched up in an effort to remember.

"She… she… had dark skin… er, looked about twelve… You know her, don't you?" He asked, catching sight of Harry's rapidly paling face.

"Yeah," he said, "yeah, I do. Is there somewhere we can continue this more privately?" Malfoy nodded.

O.o.O

_So this is 'the room of requirement', _Harry thought. He had never heard of it before, but Malfoy had seemed to know it, and seemed positive that no one would overhear them.

While Harry tentatively explained about his time at the School, he noticed that, for the first time Harry had had contact with him, Malfoy did not interrupt him once, only nodding and getting steadily paler. When he had finished talking, Malfoy still did not say a word. Harry was about to wave his hand in front of his face when he felt a hand close sharply over his ankle.

He jumped away, ripping his leg out of the hand's grasp. He automatically stood in a fighting position when logical thinking took over. He took a look at the hand. It was small, tanned, with stubby fingers that were very, very dirty. He relaxed. Behind him, Malfoy had fallen over and scrambled backwards, looking scared. _Coward, _Harry thought, then immediately felt bad. But only a little.

"Poppy, I know that's you. How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" He sighed. There came a muffled gasp from beneath the floor, and a little girl popped out of the floor. Poppy. Malfoy, at this point, was making strange little rasping noises, but Harry didn't pay attention to them. He strode forward and hugged her once, quickly, then stood back and gave her a stern look.

"What are you doing here? I _told_ you not to come!" Poppy had the decency to look ashamed. Her lower lip quivered, and her dark brown eyes filled with tears instantly.

"I-I just wanted to see my big brother…" She said quietly. Harry didn't bother pointing out that they weren't really related. To Poppy's naïve eight-year-old mind, any friend was family to her. Poppy had been Harry's first friend at the School.

"Hey!" Said girl interrupted Harry's thoughts, "you're talking! I didn't notice!" Harry just chuckled at her delayed reaction and pulled her into another hug. He had almost forgotten Malfoy, when a nasal voice sounded behind him.

"I'll just… go, shall I?" Harry turned around.

"Yeah, you do that, Malfoy."

"Hey, Harry, who's that? Is he a friend of yours? I don't like him very much. He sounds annoying."

"No, he's not my friend," Harry replied. "I suppose the real question is what you are doing here, but I have a feeling I don't want to know the answer. You came through the walls, right?"

"Yep!" Poppy smiled proudly. "And I lived there, until I found you! I don't need to eat or drink, remember? I can just heal my hunger!"

Harry suddenly wished he had a watch. He didn't know how long he had been standing there, Ron and Hermione had to be worried! Almost instantly, a watch appeared in his hand. He paled as he saw the time.

"Listen, Poppy, I have to go. Just-be careful, alright? I'll try and write a letter to Max to see if they can get you. _Don't_ argue with me. You're not staying here." Poppy sighed in defeat.

"Ok-ay, Mister bossy pants." And with one last hug, she used her skill to sink through the floor, leaving Harry alone in the Room of Requirement.


End file.
